Explore history at Susan B. Anthony home

By Stacey Wittig, Erie Times-News

Friday

Mar 15, 2019 at 4:00 AM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — What better way to celebrate National Women's History Month than a girls getaway to Rochester, N.Y.? I recently visited the region that is said to be the birthplace of the women's rights movement. The Flower City, as it is known, is full of parks, fun eateries, craft breweries and festivals that can make for entertaining rest stops between educational venues.

Standing in the parlor of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House, I felt an unexpected surge of patriotism. Experiencing first-hand the spot where the suffragette was handcuffed and arrested for voting in 1872 gripped me. I could only imagine the amount of persistence needed to change a nation's frustrating stance against giving women the right to vote. What the docent shared next stunned me: For more than 30 years, the determined Anthony appeared before every Congress to ask for passage of a suffrage amendment.

I knew that "Susan B.," as she is sometimes called, was an activist for voting rights, but little did I know that she was so involved in the anti-slavery movement with Rochester resident and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Additionally, I learned that she worked with other women around the country as a labor activist advocating for equal pay for equal work and to improve working conditions for women.

The unassuming house at 17 Madison St. was her home and headquarters for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, from which she presided as president, strategized campaigns, prepared petitions and wrote speeches that advanced the status of women. Now a museum and National Historic Landmark, the home of the woman who refused to be silenced is a place of pilgrimage for many civil rights activists.

Its extensive collection of artifacts includes the daring reformer's trademark alligator handbag and other items that belonged to Anthony and her family. "Women must have a purse of her own," she wrote, referring to the rights to make money and own property.

When I stood over the bed where she died in 1906, I felt a bit melancholic about the fact that after all her relentless campaigning, Anthony never saw legislation passed that gave women the right to vote in this country. Fourteen years after her death, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, granted the right to vote to U.S. women.

More history

Explore the history and culture of the Susan B. Anthony Preservation District, a nine-block area listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the free Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Walking Tour app.

I also found myself captivated by the highly interactive Strong National Museum of Play in downtown Rochester. Established by another bold Rochester woman, Margaret Woodbury Strong, it is the only museum dedicated to the study of play, with two museums wrapped into one: hands-on exhibits are interspersed with American history collection displays. The American philanthropist collected more than a million artifacts.

I walked through enormous kaleidoscopes and an exaggerated perspective room into a hall devoted to collections of historic toys and games. I was amazed at soaring butterflies and colorful botanicals in the Dancing Wings Butterfly Garden and stimulated by a room full of flashing pinball machines that I played with zeal. Later, I looked to see if my favorite toys were included in the National Toy Hall of Fame and then stepped into another exhibit, the World Video Game Hall of Fame and got hooked after taking a seat in the cockpit of a video racecar game. The unique and extensive collection gave me a real sense of how our concept of play has evolved over the years and how women like Strong can change the way we look at our world.

Southwest of Rochester, in Mumford, N.Y., is Genesee Country Village and Museum, the third largest living-history museum in the nation. I walked under trees and among gardens, houses, and shops to learn about the daily life of women during the 1800s.

"Hey sheep, hey sheep," called a woman clad in period dress as we walked into an 1820s era barnyard. The woolly creatures came running to us and the soft voice of their shepherdess. The barn and farmhouse are some of the 68 historic structures that you can explore on the 600-acre property. I learned that the noisy geese roaming the farmyard were used not only as meat birds but also for weed control, featherbeds and alarm systems. Talking with the reenactors helped me understand how much America has changed over the years.

Later, the clink of hammer on iron drew me to the ironsmith shop, and I was mesmerized by the glowing coals kept alive by huge bellows. In the potter's shop, I chatted with the "potter's daughter" as the regional clay she shaped with her hands filled the room with an organic, earthy smell. The final product of red earthenware crocks mixed with pre-kiln-dried pots on pine shelves helped me visualize what it was like to process food in those containers before glass mason jars, which became popular during the Civil War, and Tupperware, which changed the lives of everyone after World War II.

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